Transformations
Dress Up Days
The 6th Grade ELA team rocks it for our Halloween Teacher Contest
Team M in the Teacher 'Favorite Book or Movie' contest!
Room Transformations
The classroom gets a makeover for CSI Milestones Review
Sporting my CSI outfit!
I don't really like dressing up. Actually, I hate it. I feel awkward and uncomfortable, put-upon and overly dramatic. But here's the deal, the kids LOVE it - and they think that I love it too. Their excitement, joy, interest in what's to come - that's what makes it worthwhile.
Prior to 2018, I had only really dressed up on official dress-up days - and we have plenty of those. Halloween, Pep Rally weeks, the week before break - there are always staff contests going on, and I always feel that it is my duty to 'play.' I post pictures on FaceBook and Instagram, much to the delight of family, friends, and past students (in the case of my class Instagram). In the 2018-19 school year, I upped the game - and it was such a success. From the Reading Cafe on, costumes and room transformations became a 'thing' that I did on a regular basis.
The Reading Cafe was so much fun that I was determined to do something similar, but time kept getting away from me and plans were not made. It doesn't take much reading time or many moments on Twitter to know that this basic way of making learning more fun and interesting is key to inspiring students to enjoy their learning. From Dave Burgess' Teach Like a Pirate and all of his family of books, to websites and blogs created by a variety of his disciples, I realized that I had no excuse whatsoever for not changing my room more often. Somewhere early in the second semester I made the decision - each new unit would be marked with a room change. A different atmosphere, a costume, a surprise. Something to make the kids perk up and anticipate fun learning ahead. Next year they won't have to wait an entire semester until they have a classroom supporting a change of theme and standards.
The following semester brought a King Arthur theme with Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick and a crime scene atmosphere during our CSI Milestones Review.
From fake doors to a castle stairwell.
From Sir Reads-a-Lot to King Arthur!
